


The Picture of the Check-Out Girl

by universe



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Cancer, Cancer Arc, Drabble Collection, F/M, Food, Gen, Love, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-03
Updated: 2009-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-10 11:25:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/99226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universe/pseuds/universe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>His fingers paint his love across her flesh as if they're brushes and she's their canvas.</i> A collection of somewhat au-ish, completely random drabble-like... somethings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Picture of the Check-Out Girl

_01; breakfast_  
Of the three main meals in a day, the only one she never misses is breakfast. She skips lunch most days, and dinner on occasion, too, but never breakfast. Each morning (or what qualifies for morning when you're in deep space), she pretends the algae Billy brings her is fresh milk from living, breathing cows, the egg an egg from a chicken fluttering around outside; she pretends the bread she's eating is made from real flour that comes from real grain. If she tries hard enough, and the galley has invented something new, she can actually make herself believe, even if it's just for a second, that she's not on the run, not the President, nothing but a woman having breakfast on an ordinary day.

_02; thursday_  
The last time she sleeps with him is on a Wednesday. It's a rush between shifts and meetings, and while it's not as gentle as some of their previous encounters, it's what they both need. She falls over the edge twice, but he's there to catch her, always, and afterwards, he holds her tight until he has to leave for the CIC. His break is over, hers isn't, and she falls asleep while he gets ready. When she wakes up, it's after midnight, and he's long gone, so she decides to head back to Colonial One to get there before everyone else does. In the end, she never reaches her office, for her raptor crashes against one of the ships in the early hours of Thursday.

_03; landmark_  
Earth 2.0, as she has dubbed it in her mind, does not have many marks yet. There's the occasional odd-looking tree, but there's no sign of human influence, of people's interference with nature. Yet. She's sure there's going to be enough of that soon enough. Lee says there won't be any technology from now on, but she can't quite believe him. They are too used to that, she cannot see how some of them will be able to live without the comforts of being an advanced civilisation. She, on the other hand, is looking forward to the new possibilities. A cabin, a retired Admiral, peace. It's all she's ever wanted, and she knows they're going to build their own landmarks from now on, invisible to anyone but them.

_04; uphill_  
She comes back home from another Diloxin treatment with a bounce to her step that astounds him. _What happened?_, his eyes ask her sparkling ones. "Cottle says the Diloxin is working, the cancer is in remission." He doesn't know what to say, but it doesn't matter, she understands him anyway. His throat constricted with emotion, he pulls her close. He is too rough, but she barely notices when he spins her around and all but dances across the room with her. It's the best news they've received in a while.

_05; cockles_  
The water around her feet is pleasantly warm, and she digs her toes into the cooler sand. "Laura, you have to see this", she hears him call, but the spot she picked to sit down feels too nice, so she just asks him what he has found. "Seashells! At least a handful!" The excitement in his voice makes her giggle. Who would have thought that Bill Adama, the last remaining Colonial Admiral in the universe, would sound like a five year-old who had just gotten a new toy when he was faced with seashells of all things. Not that she doesn't understand him, of course. She rejoices in this as much as he does. Neither of them had dared hope they'd ever find a place like this, ever see another beach, ever spend another carefree day. But here they are, and the air is full of salt and possibilities.

_06; dead end_  
The vastness of the universe never ceases to surprise her. She should be used to it by now, but she isn't, and no matter how many times Bill shows her maps of the planets they know, all she can think about is the uncharted territory nobody has ever seen. All the worlds they might have explored on their way if they had not been on the run the entire time. And sometimes she thinks that maybe it was better this way, for all new worlds have new dangers, too, and they can't afford any more loss. And yet, every time she looks out a window into the deep dark abyss, she shivers. There are no dead ends in space, and it scares her more than she likes to admit.

_07; canvas_  
His fingers paint his love across her flesh as if they're brushes and she's their canvas. His favourite hue to colour her with is blue, because it's a nice contrast to her flaming hair and porcelain skin, and because it's his favourite colour (and she's his favourite, too). They both have favourites, books, stories, protagonists (each other), but he has never been a poet, and while she thinks he doesn't need to prove his love to her at all, he disagrees, and draws on her his adoration, not in words, but in caresses and embraces.

_08; forest_  
The leaves are damp under her feet as she walks through shadows of trees that have been on this planet longer than she will ever be. The soft ground muffles the sound of her steps, giving her the possibility to sneak up on him. But first, she watches him. He's sitting on the ground, looking as relaxed as he did when she found him playing in the sand (_alluvial deposits_). He has his eyes closed, and as she tiptoes closer, she wonders what he's dreaming of, and if he is thinking of her. _Even if he's not, he will be soon._ She is close enough to touch him now, and she's surprised he hasn't heard her yet. Not that she minds, because this gives her the perfect opportunity to surprise him with a passionate kiss. And so she does.

_09; landmine_  
Their relationship is like a minefield. It's confrontations and a dance, always watchful of their feet on the ground. One wrong step and she finds herself in the brig, a military dictatorship seeming inevitable. Another one, and he gets shot, and she wonders for a while if the prophecies might not be about her after all. When she decides to hide and run, she knows she's closer to taking that one fatal step than ever before, but she has no choice, and just closes her eyes and plunges in, and hopes she won't lose.

_10; forever and always_  
He takes care of her in what they both know will be her last days in this life, helps her get up and lie down, brings her food, reads to her.  
"Why are you doing all this?", she asks once, her voice nothing but a hoarse whisper.  
"Because loving you is in the details", he says, and means it. She is not surprised, his commitments have always been absolute. Once he starts loving, he loves, and it lasts forever, even if she won't.


End file.
